Presidential Libraries

Aug. 21, 2015

To the Editor:

It is worrying that President Obama is falling into the same trap as his predecessors with his intention to raise hundreds of millions of dollars to underwrite his presidential library complex (“Obama Plots Postpresidency in Campaign Mode,” front page, Aug. 17).

While he plans to seek the majority of donations after leaving the White House, the fund-raising process inevitably begins while the president is still in the Oval Office, where influence and future library contributions can regrettably be untransparently interwoven. This isn’t terribly surprising given that it will be far harder for Mr. Obama to raise those astronomical funds as a private citizen.

There is a solution: Centralizing all presidential libraries in Washington in a government building would be a boon to researchers, tourists and the integrity of the libraries … and, not least, presidents. Perhaps the next president would bear this in mind before creating a $1 billion temple to his or her legacy.

LEONARD BENARDO

JENNIFER WEISS

Brooklyn

The writers are the co-authors of “Citizen-in-Chief: The Second Lives of the American Presidents.”